Game Overview ::
By mike johnson >>
- Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel has had 10 days to prepare his offense to play without Tua Tagovailoa. Backup quarterback Skylar Thompson will step in for the Dolphins for at least this week.
- Seattle has won two slow-paced slugfests to start the 2024 season, a positive start to the Mike Macdonald era.
- It is early, but the Seahawks defense currently ranks second in the league in yards per play allowed and third in QB pressure rate.
- This game will be a chess match between an offensive mastermind for the Dolphins (McDaniel) and a defensive guru for the Seahawks (Macdonald), with McDaniel playing with less than a full deck.
- Seattle’s offense was highly concentrated in Week 2 with Zach Charbonnet, DK Metcalf, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba hogging most of the usage.
- The Dolphins run defense has been exposed in back-to-back weeks, giving up big games against Jaguars and Bills running backs.
How Miami Will Try To Win ::
The Dolphins lost an ugly one on Thursday night of Week 2 to the Bills, but the bigger story was the loss of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with a very scary looking concussion. Miami will be without Tua for at least the next four weeks and possibly longer, as he recovers from this situation in light of his past concussion history. In the wake of that, the Dolphins signed QB Tyler Huntley off the Cleveland Browns practice squad to add to their depth at the position and they will start QB Skylar Thompson. The last time we saw Thompson start was two seasons ago in the Dolphins’ Wild Card round 34-31 loss to the Bills in the playoffs. Miami has had 10 days to prepare for the change at quarterback and should have a game plan tailored to Thompson to give him a chance to succeed in a hostile environment.
The Dolphins have a terrific offensive coach in Mike McDaniel, who comes from the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree. One thing he is exceptionally good at is getting the ball in the hands of his playmakers in space to create yards after the catch. Tua Tagovailoa’s greatest strength in this system was likely how fast he processed information and got the ball out of his hands, leading all QBs in average time to throw. Thompson may still get it out quicker than the average quarterback, but it will be slower than Tua. We also know that Thompson has the ability to extend plays with his legs, which adds a slightly different dimension to the game than Tua brought. In Thompson’s brief appearance in Week 2, he was 8 for 14 passing for 80 yards with several bad missed throws. During that Bills loss in the playoffs a couple of years back, Thompson completed only 18 for 45 pass attempts. He is nowhere near as accurate of a passer as Tua, so the team’s passing efficiency will likely take a dip in that area as well.
So now that we know a little more about who will be under center for Miami, the question is how they approach this game. As discussed earlier, the Dolphins best chance at victory is to lean on their elite playmaking trio of Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De’Von Achane rather than expecting Thompson to carry them. I would expect Hill and Waddle to be given the ball in some creative ways on Jet Sweeps, quick screens, and other wrinkles. Thompson’s accuracy issues should force Miami to do those things to ensure opportunities for Hill and Waddle to get the ball in their hands. De’Von Achane saw the biggest workload of his career in Week 2, with 29 opportunities while Raheem Mostert missed the game. He should once again be heavily involved and his speed will be key in slowing down the Seahawks pass rush.
While Thompson is not a world beater by any means and will likely have his share of poor throws on Sunday, he is capable of doing some nice things. During that playoff loss two years ago, Thompson clearly got more comfortable as the game progressed and he got into a bit of a rhythm. Last week’s modest performance should not be viewed too harshly as it’s a tough spot to get thrown into. We should expect something similar this week with Thompson getting more comfortable after a drive or two as he will likely be given easier tasks early in the game. The Dolphins offense is most effective when it can stretch the field both horizontally and vertically with their speed, creating space and then attacking it. Expect them to spread Seattle out early and attack them in a more horizontal fashion which will force the Seahawks to compress the field a bit. I would then expect that sometime later in the first half, once Seattle is crowding the underneath stuff, the Dolphins will take a couple of deep shots off play action. At that point, even if the deep shots don’t connect, the Dolphins will have established threats both horizontally and vertically which should help to reduce the pressure that Thompson is dealing with in the pass rush. Seattle’s defense ranks 9th in the NFL in QB pressure rate, while the Dolphins have the 30th ranked offensive line in PFF’s pass blocking grades. Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald is known from his days in Baltimore for his exotic blitz packages and, although Seattle has not blitzed at a high rate yet this season, I am sure he has some things dialed up to throw at Thompson this week. Miami will have to alleviate that pressure if they want to give Thompson a chance to succeed.
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